Search America's historic newspaper pages from 1756-1963 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present. Chronicling America is sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities external link and the Library of Congress. Learn more
Image provided by: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library, Urbana, IL
Newspaper Page Text
v "v"V""r- CONGRESS CAN SHAKE OFF GRIP OF WAR TRUST HOW WILL REPRESENTATIVES VOTE? BY CONGR'SMAN C. H. TAVENNER Cordova, III., Oct 20. The war trust, to which war- means staggering profits, is tiehteniriff- its grip on America. It will be recalled that the United States Steel corporation, the original steel trust, was able to escape dissolu tion on the ground that it really con trolled but 50 per cent of the iron and steel production. Now a new steel trust has been formed to pick up the scattered ends overlooked the first time. A complete monopoly is therefore nearer today than ever before. All the two trusts have to do to have Un cle Sam, andandeed, the whole "world, at its mercy, is to simply have a nice little "gentleman's agreement" not to indulge in any but sham competition. To every one except the war trust war means misery, poverty, torture, desolation and death. But to the J. P. Morgans and other stockholders of the war trust it means a harvest of g61d. Did it ever occur to you, Mr. Aver age Citizen, that the J. P. Morgans have more power in this country than an equal number of United States senators? If this has ever occurred to you have you ever projected your mind a little further and considered whether it is to your interest to have war and preparation for war so high ly profitable to the Morgans? On my desk I have a weekly stock market letter. It is issued by a New York firm of stock brokers. I will just quote a few of the headlines: "Win chester Arms up 1,000 points Colt's Arms up 100 points Electric Boat up 100 points DuPont declares stock dividend of 200 per cent." Take Bethlehem Steel stock. At the outbreak of the war this stock sold at $30; today it is selling at more than $450. If-you had $30 invested in this stock your profit on account of war would haye been $420. Now jus imagine what the profit must have been to the Wall st war trust mag nates who owned millions of dollars' worth of these munition company stocks! Behind the war trust is the most powerful group of men in the United States, if not in the civilized world. Its control is in the hands of the same group of money kings that rule the express companies, the telegraph companies, the railroads, the steam ship lines, the money trust and the great insurance companies and in dustrial trusts. It is not to the in terest of these men that the European war is brought to a speedy close. The more war, the more profits. To these men peace is an actual calamity. The war trafficking mongerers are the only ones to whom war is profit able. Why not make war profitable even to them by taking all profit out of war and preparation for war? Con gress could do it easily by simply re quiring the government to manufac ture all of its own munitions and ships in government arsenals, navy and shipbuilding yards, which would mean a saving of millions to the tax payers. If you want to render a patriotic service to your fellowmen and your republic, Mr. Reader, see to it that your congressman takes your side in this controversy. o o TOO MANY FLUKE ARRESTS IN CHICAGO, SAYS HOPKINS "Too many are arrested in Chicago for trivial offenses," Judge Jacob Hopkins told the Physicians club at their banquet at Hotel Sherman last night "There are too many nights spent by innocents in vile cells, too many mistrials. Lots of violators of ordinances should be told to wipe their noses and go home.' o o The best thing about the big stick theory js it acts as a war vaccination. ilMtfiMMh liMfefeftAfeMMAMHIMA